The engine for growth would be new products....

Equipment Zone / Oct 15 2012

ACE (Action Construction Equipment Ltd), a Public Ltd Company was founded in 1995 by a technocrat, Vijay Agarwal. The ﬁrst ﬂagship product launched by the Company was Pick & Move Mobile Cranes and then with the times, Company went on adding various products from material handling and construction equipment segment.

"The engine for growth would be new products which would ﬁll product gaps and would bring additional revenue followed by ever increasing customer base and continued infrastructure growth. Our customer base is very vast and our products are used by almost all sectors of industries i.e. Infrastructure, PSUs, Railways, Oil Companies, Steel, Mining, Ports, Warehousing and other industrial segments."

Chetan Gole, Vice President, Action Construction Equipment Ltd shares his views with Sandeep Sharma about his company, MHE offerings, market share, latest trends, product launch and hot sectors driving growth for MHE. Edited Excerpts…

Could you tell us about your company and your offerings in the MHE sphere?
ACE (Action Construction Equipment Ltd), a Public Ltd Company was founded in 1995 by a technocrat, Vijay Agarwal. The ﬁrst ﬂagship product launched by the Company was Pick & Move Mobile Cranes and then with the times, Company went on adding various products from material handling and construction equipment segment in its product basket. Today, Company offers wide spectrum of products from MHE sphere e.g. Pick & Move Mobile Cranes, Truck Mounted Cranes, Rough Terrain Cranes, Articulated / Straight Boom Cranes, Crawler Cranes, Forklift Trucks, Fixed & Mobile Tower Cranes. Our Road construction Equipment range includes Backhoe Loaders, Wheeled Loaders, Vibratory Rollers & Motor Graders and Agricultural Equipment range includes Tractors and Harvester Combine.

Today, ACE stands for widest range of Mobile Material Handling Equipment and Construction Equipment.

Being a leader in the MHE segment, what’s your market share and growth rate in the last ﬁnancial year?
ACE commands leadership in most of its established product segments. We enjoy more than 55% market share in Cranes, 60 – 65% market share in Tower Crane segment and 17 18% market share in Forklift business.

Our Mobile Crane business has grown by 10%, Fixed Tower Crane business has grown by 80%, Mobile Tower Crane business grown by 35% and Forklift business has grown by 35% (in nos.) and 50% (by revenue).

What are the latest trends in the MHE sector? How far you are able to meet the latest tech requirement of the customers in India?
Reasons like acute shortage of manpower / labour and pressure for high productivity fuels the demand for latest technology and highly efﬁcient Material Handling Equipment. At ACE, our endeavour is to always offer latest / appropriate technology and reliable equipment to our customers so as to enhance their productivity.

Are you planning any new product launch in the current ﬁnancial year? Do you have any expansion plans for your products/solutions in India?
Last year we have launched 75 Ton capacity Crawler Crane. The product is successfully launched and performing very well in the ﬁeld. We are in the process of launching higher as well as lower capacity Crawler Cranes this year. We are also considering to add heavy duty Forklifts, Aerial Access Equipment and Telehandlers in our product range.

What kind of growth do you see amidst global turmoil and all time low sentiments prevailing in India?
Despite the present global turmoil and low sentiment, we are optimistic. We are expecting our business to grow by at least 35 – 40% in the Forklift segment.

Could you please comment on the demand drivers for your products / solutions in the MHE segment? Which are the most prominent sectors/clients for your offerings?
The engine for growth would be new products which would ﬁll product gaps and would bring additional revenue followed by ever increasing customer base and continued infrastructure growth.

Our customer base is very vast and our products are used by almost all sectors of industries i.e. Infrastructure, PSUs, Railways, Oil Companies, Steel, Mining, Ports, Warehousing and other industrial segments.

What can be the size of the MHE industry in India? What can be the approximate number of players in the organised and unorganized sector?
With regard to Crane, approximately 9,000 units of Cranes are sold in India. There are only two organized players and several unorganized small time players. In Tower Cranes approximately 700 – 800 units are sold per annum in which ACE is having Lion share among the domestic suppliers. There are multinational player like Liebherr and Potain etc. with small market share.

With regard to Forklifts, domestic market is approximately 6000 nos. Godrej, Voltas and ACE are having a major market share in India.

Since last few years, ACE has emerged as the fastest growing Mobile Material Handling and Construction Equipment Company. ACE has repeatedly bagged awards from Building Industry, Construction World NICMAR, Emerging India from CNBC.

Today ACE stands for most reliable, efﬁcient and widest product range from Material handling and Construction Equipment segment.